Matching-machine.



no. s73,|2a. .y Patented Apr. so, |901. c. J. L. MEYER.

MATCHING MACHINE.

(Application med mar. 9, 189e.) (No Model.) 6"Sheets-Sheet l.

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L L Q@ @f ,Ellulllmu Patentsd Apr. 30, I90I. C. J. L. MEYER.

MATCHING MACHINE. (Application filed Mar. 9, 1898.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

No. 673,|2av.

(No Model.)

No. s7s,|2a. Patented Apr: 3o, mol. c. J. L. MEYER.

MATCHING MGHINE.

' (Application flled Mar. 9, 1898.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

No. 673,I28. Patented Apr. 3Q, I90l.

C. J. L. MEYER. l

MATCHING MACHINE.

(Application filed Mar. 9, 1898.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

w: Nonms PETERS oo., Pnoaurno., wAsNlNsTou. D. c.

No. 673,!28. l Patented Apr. 30, |90I. C. J. L. MEYER.

MATCHING MACHINE.

(Application led Mar. 9, 189B.)

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

MIZ/72%@ {enof 6/ M w WWM @JW/MM35@ ai@ No. 673,128. Patented Apr. 3o',rem. g

l c. J. L. Maven.

MATCHING MACHINE.

(Application md nur. a, 189e.)

(no Model.) s sheets-sheet s.

NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. L. MEYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MATCHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION :forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,128, dated April30, 1901.

` Application led March 9, 1898. Serial No. 673,264. (No model.)

T0 all whom, it rito/zj concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. L. MEYER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Matching-Machines, of which the following is aspecication, reference .being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part thereof.

My improvements relate to machines for forming the tongues and grooveson the opposite sides or edges of boards or lumber, particularly hardwood, such as maple flooring.

The main objects of the invention are to increase the capacity and toimprove the product of machines of this class.

It consists of certain novel features in the construction andarrangement of component parts of the machine, as hereinafterparticularly described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings like letters designate the same parts inthe several figures.

Figure l is a front view of my improved matching-machine. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same. Figs. 3, 4, and 6 are enlarged verticalcross-sections on the lines 3 3, 4 4, and'` 6 6, Fig. 2. section on theline 5 5, Figs. 2 and 4. is a horizontal section on the 4line 7 7, Fig.l. Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the yielding feed or presser rollerbearings. Figs. 9 and l() are detail views of the finishinggroovecutter, Fig. l0 being a section on the line lO l0, Fig. 9; andFigs. 1l and 12 are a plan view and side elevation; respectively,'of amodified form of the adjustable frame for the roughing groove-cutter.

In matching hard-wood lumber I have found a single cutter-head forforming either the tongue or groove inadequate to do the workeconomically and well, because the entire work of both roughing andfinishing being done by a single cutter the stuff has to be fed throughthe machine at a comparatively slow speed and the knives are soon dulledand worn, so that they will not do smooth and accurate work. Byprovidinga number Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal of cutters arranged,as hereinafter explained, to operate simultaneously in forming both thetongue and groove with means for readily adjusting the several cuttersto compensate for wear of the knives I am enabled to feed Fig. 7

the lumber thereto much more rapidly and do much smoother and moreaccurate work. By providing in a single machine two sets of cutters forsimultaneously operating upon and forming the tongue and groove on theopposite edges of a piece of lumber as it passes through the machine Isave about half the time, trouble, and expense of the handling requiredto run it through two machines.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the frame, which is provided onthe front side with a vertically-adjustable bed B,u pon which the lumberto be matched is supported as it passes through the machine and which,with the vertical face of the frame above it, constitutes a guideway.

C C are feed-rollers mounted in pairs upon the upper ends of verticalshafts which are geared together near their lowei` ends and driven byalongitudinal shaft D, having bevelgears meshing with bevel-gears on thelower ends of the inner roller-shafts, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Theshafts of the outer rollers are supported at their upper ends inoutwardly-yielding bearings c, one of which is shown indetail in Fig. 8.The peripheries of the inner rollers project slightly through openingsin the vertical face of the frame above the bed B.

E is the roughing groove-cutter, which is mounted upon the front end ofa horizontal shaft e and projects on its upper side through an openingin the bed B. The shaft e is provided With a pulley e' and is carried bytwo adjustable plates or frames F and G, the plate F being movable onthe plate G parallel with said shaft and the plate G being movablevertically upon a cross-piece of the main frame. A screw f, engaging theslide F, serves to adjust the cutter E crosswise of the bed B, and ascrew g, engaging the slide G, serves to adjust said cutter vertically.A

H is the finishing groove-cutter, which is shown in detail in Figs. 9and l0. lt is mounted upon the end of a short horizontal shaft h, whichis provided with a pulley h and is carried by two slides I and J, asshown in Fig. 6, the slide I, which is provided with bearings for saidshaft and directly supports said cut-ter, being movable horizontallyparallel with said shaft upon the slide .I and the slide J being movablevertically upon a cross- IOO piece of the main frame. A screw 1I,engaging with the slide I and having a bearing in the slide J, serves toadjust the cutter H transversely' to the bed B, and a screw j, engagingwith the slide J and having a bearing in the main frame, serves toadjust said cutter vertically. y

Like the cutter E the cutter H projects on its upper side through anopening in the bed B. It consists, as shown in Figs. 9 and l0, of a diskhaving dovetail grooves formed in one side thereof and inclinedtowardtheir outer end forwardly from radii of the disk and of knives h2,fitted in said grooves and adjustably held therein by bolts 71,8 passingtransversely through the disk and having tapered heads adapted to engagewith the knives on one side of the grooves in which they are inserted.The knives may thus be made from straight bars of steel and can bereadily removed from and reset in the cutterhead and can also be groundoff in sharpening them until the greater part of theirlength isconsumed.

Opposite the roughing-cutter E the stuff to be matched is held againstthe vertical face of the guideway by a spring b or other suitable means.Opposite the finishing-cutter H the stuff is rmly held in place againstthe vertical face of the frame by a presser-roller K, journaled in aframe la, which is pivoted at one end to the bed B and yieldinglyconnected therewith at the other end by means of a rod and a spring k',placed thereon between said frame and a nut and'washer on the rod. Theroller K may be adjusted toward and from the vertical face of theguideway by means of a nut, which is threaded on said rod and againstwhich the frame 7c is normally held by the spring lo', and the tensionof said spring may be adjusted by means of the nut and washer,againstwhich it bears at its outer end.

L L are the tongue-cutters mountedupon the front ends of parallel shaftsZ Z, which are each supported by two independentlyadjustable slides Mand N above and transversely to the bed B, as shown in detail in Figs. 4and 5. Each of said cutters is provided with knives for forming one sideof the tongue, and the cutter heads or disks are set in different planesparallel with each other and parallel with the vertical face of theguideway. Each of the slides M is movable ver tically on the associatedslide N, and each of the slides N is movable horizontally parallel withthe shafts Z upon a slide O, which is in turn adjustable in the samedirection upon a cross-piece of the main frame A.

fm fm are screws for vertically adjusting the slides M, which areprovided with bearings for and directly support the cutter-shafts Z. n'n are screws for separately adjusting the slides N horizontallyparallel with the shafts Z, and o is a screw for adjusting the slide 0.

By means of the screws m the cutters L are l adjusted vertically to cutthe required depth.

By means of the screws n they are adjusted to cut a tongue of thedesired thickness, and by means of the screw o both cutters are adjustedsimultaneously crosswise of the bed, so as to form the tongue in thedesired position upon the stu to be matched. The screws m and n alsoafford means for adjusting the cutters to compensate for Wear of theknives, so that the exact size of tongue required may be easilypreserved without renewing the knives or frequently resetting themindividually.

The cutter-shafts Z are each provided with a pulley Z. The stuff to bematched is held in place against the vertical face of the guidewayopposite the cutters L by means of vertically disposed and outwardlyyielding presser-rollers C', which are like or similar in constructionand arrangement to the feedrollers C, except that they are notpositively driven.

P is a cutter provided with knives for gouging or hollowing out theunder side of flooring or for cutting one of the faces of matched stuffto any desired shape. Itis mounted on the upper end of a vertical shaftp, which is provided with a pulley p. This shaft is supported in a frameQ, which is hinged or pivoted parallel with said shaft to the main frameby means of a rod q. The rod q is supported and adapted to turn at itsends in pivot blocks or boXes q', provided on the main frame, as shownin Fig. 7 and the frame Q is secured thereon between nuts q2, by meansof which the said frame and the cutter P are adjusted vertically. On theopposite side of the shaft p from the rod q the frame Q is adjustablyconnected with the main frame by means of adjusting-screws g3 and (14,(shown in Fig. 7,) the screws g3 passing through vertical slots in theframe Q and being threaded in the main frame Aand the screws g4 beingthreaded in the frame Q and bearing at their.points against the mainframe or the ange of the bed B. By means of these screws qS and g4 thecutter P is adjusted toward and from the vertical face of the guideWay,so as to operate upon stuff of dierent thickness or dimensions. Thestuff may be heid in place adjacent to the cutter P by means of a springor presser-bar b.

The strips or pieces of timber to be matched are held at intervalssnugly down upon the bed B by presser-plates R, the stems of which passdownwardly through the bed B and are yieldingly and advjustablyconnected' with the main frame by threaded rods r and springs r. The bedB is adjusted vertically for stu of different widths by means of screwsb2.

TOO

IIO

The shaft D, through which the feed-rolls, as shown in` sion, the stripsor pieces are entered endwise between the first pair of feed-'rollers onthe right-hand end of the machine, as seen in Figs. l and 2. As theypass over the cutter E a groove is roughly formed in their lolwer edges,and as they pass next over the cutter I-I said groove is accuratelytrimmed out and finished, the stuff being iirmly held in place betweenthe vertical face of the guideway and the yielding presser-roller K.Passing thence under and between the cutters L, tirst one side and thenthe other side of the tongue is formed on the upper edges of the stuff,which is held accurately in place next to the cutters by thepresser-rollers C. 'Passing thence by the cutter P, the back or outerface of the stuff is hollowed out or otherwise formed. I prefer toarrange the feed and presser rollers substantially as shown in Figs. land 2, a pair between the finishing groove-cutter and the tongue-cuttersand a pair on each side of the cutter P. For the roughing groove-cutterand the two tonguecutters I may employ what are commonly known asScheimer heads.

With the construction and arrangement of the cutters with relation tothe guiding and feeding mechanism hereinbefore described I ain enabledto simultaneously tongue-andgroove hard wood lumber very rapidly,smoothly, and accurately, and the adjustment of the cutters to take upwear, to preserve the exact size and fit of the tongue and groove, andto operate upon lumber of different dimensions is greatly facilitated.

In place of the slides for adjustably supporting the roughinggroove-cutter E, I may substitute a swinging frame T, as shown in Figs.11 and l2, similar to the frame Q hereinbefore described in connectionwith the cutter P. This frame T is hinged or pivoted on one sideparallel with the cutter-shaft e to the main frame A by a rod t, whichis supported and adapted to turn at its ends in pivot blocks or boxes tt. It is held on said rod by nuts t2 t2, by means of which it may beadjusted with the cutter E transversely to the bed B. On the oppositeside of the shaft E said frame T is secured to a cross-piece of the mainframe by screws t3 and t4, the screws t3 passing through slots in saidframe T and being threaded in the cross-piece of the main frame and thescrews t4 being threaded in the frameT and bearing at their pointsagainst said cross-piece, as shown in Fig. l2.

Various changes and modifications in the minor details of constructionmay be made without departing from the intended scope of my invention.

I claiml. In a matching-machine the combination with a frame having aguideway and suitable feeding mechanism, of two rotary tonguecuttersmounted in different planes parallel witheach other, and with the planeof the strip to be matched on shafts which are transverse to saidguideway, each cutter being provided with knives which are adapted toform one side of the tongue, and each being adjustable axiallyindependently of the other, and means for adjusting said cutterssimultaneously in the direction of their axes, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

2. In a matching-machine the combination with a frame having avertically-adjustable horizontal bed and a face perpendicular to saidbed and forming therewith a guideway and suitable feeding mechanism formoving the stuff on edge along said guideway, of a vertically-adjustableframe hinged on a vertical axis to the side of said frame, a rotarycutter mounted opposite the vertical face of said guideway on a shaftwhich has bearings in said vertically-adjustable frame parallel with theaxis on which it swings, and an adjusting-screw for setting saidswinging frame and the rotary cutter in or out with reference to thevertical face of said guideway, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

3. In a matching-machine the combination with a frame having'a guidewayand suitable feeding mechanism, an adjustable frame hinged or pivoted tothe main frame by a rod transverse to said guideway and adjustablelengthwise of said rod, a rotary cutter mounted upon a shaft which hasbearings in said adjustable frame parallel with said rod, and screwsconnecting the adjustable frame with the main frame for adjusting saidcutter toward and from said guideway, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

4. In a matching-machine the combination with a frame having avertically-adjustable horizontal bed and a vertical face forming withsaid' bed a guideway and suitable feeding mechanism for moving the stuto be matched edgewise upon said bed along said guideway, of rotarygroove-andtongue cutters arranged to operate simultaneously on oppositeedges of the stuff to be matched, the groove-cutters being set in planesparallel with the vertical face of the guideway and projecting upwardlythrough openings in said bed so as to form the groove in the lower edgeof the stuff, and the tongue-cutters being set in different planesparallel with the vertical face of the guideway and each provided withadjustable knives adapted to form one side of the tongue on the upperedge of the stuff, and a rotary cutter mounted opposite the verticalface of said guideway on a shaft transverse to the axes of thetongue-and-groove cutters and to said guideway and adapted to shape tothe desired form the outer face of the matched stuff, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

5. In a matching-machine the combination with a frame having avertically-adjustable horizontal bed and a vertical face forming withsaid bed a guideway and suitable mechanism for moving the stuff to bematched edgewise on said bed along said guideway, of a slide movablehorizontally upon said frame transversely to said guideway, a screw forIGO adjusting said slide, two pairs of slides mounted upon saidrst-mentioned slide, the slides of each pair being movable transverselyto eachother, one horizontally parallel with the first slide and theother vertically, screws for adjusting said slides independently of eachother, two horizontal shafts each supported by bearings in one of eachof said pairs of slides parallel with the other shaft, and twocutter-heads mounted upon the ends of said shafts overhanging said bedand each provided with adjustable knives which are adapted to form oneside of the tongue and the shoulder at its base on the upper edge of thestu to be matched, substantially as and 15 for the purposes set forth.

In Witness-whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses. p

CHARLES J. L. MEYER. Witnesses:

JOHN BENSON, CHAS. L. Goss.

